1 Samuel 3 - Talk 3
‘Breaking the Silence’ (1 Sam 3:1-4:1a)
the power of words
It was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald last Thursday (31 May 07) that a women died in New Zealand after the electricity was cut off from her home. A 44 year old woman had recently returned from hospital and she was on an oxygen machine – the long hose of the machine dragging around with her. The paper reports that there was an outstanding power bill and a contractor had been sent around to disconnect the power supply. ‘The family says Ms Muliaga, 44, pleaded that she be given a chance to pay her outstanding power bill. But the contractor replied, "I'm just here to do my job". Then he left [...] Minutes later, she collapsed. An ambulance was called but attempts to resuscitate her failed’.
The contractor’s words were powerful because he had the authority of the electricity company behind him ‘I'm just here to do my job’. These words broke the quiet silence of a home and someone died. The power of words. The Bible has a lot to say about the presence and power of God’s words.
God’s word in creation
breaking the silence (Gen 1)
Let’s go for a quick walk – more like a sprint – through the early chapters of Genesis. Turn with me to Genesis 1:1, ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters’. In the beginning there was silent chaos. No order, no form, no shape or purpose to creation. And the Spirit hovers, poised over that which is formless and empty. Then God speaks, his word creates, it fills space and the canvass of the universe comes to life. God’s word - a life-giving Word that defines and shapes and gives meaning and substance. And in verse 31, God looks at his craftsmanship, ‘God saw all that he had made, and it was very good’.
a deafening silence (Gen 5-8)
When God withdraws his Word then creation reverts to chaos. The silence of God and the judgment of God are much the same thing. In the time of Noah sin saturated the earth. It’s a damming summary in Gen 6:8, ‘Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways’. God’s response to this corruption is to withdraw his life-giving Word. And it rains and floods and creation blurs and returns to a watery chaos. There is a deafening absence of God’s word as the world dissolves and life is extinguished except for Noah and his family.
It’s helpful to picture the scene in your mind’s eye. The rain and floods blurring the distinction between sky and earth and between ocean and land - the absence of God’s sustaining word brings judgment. Every living creature was wiped from the face of the earth (Gen 7:4). But such is our God that in the treacherous waters of judgment there is grace. God speaks and breaks the silence. Gen 8:1, ‘God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him on the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded’. The ‘wind’ is the Spirit of God hovering over the waters , echoes of Gen 1, and the Spirit goes forth and the waters recede and creation is restored.
As we move into 1 Samuel 3, there is a fundamental point to make: the word of God sustains creation. Creation is bound together by God’s gracious and life-giving Word. The absence of God’s word is judgment. It is a universal truth that the word of God rules and sustains this world, and the more particularly word of God rules and sustains his people. And so the psalmist pleas, ‘do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws’ (Ps 119:43).
God’s word in Israel
a terrifying silence (v.1)
The days of Noah are much like the days of the Judges and Samuel. ‘Everyone did as he saw fit’. God’s response to Israel’s rebellion is judgment – the withdrawal of his Word. We see this in 1 Sam 3:1, ‘The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions’. A vision was one way God communicated his word to his prophet. Now visions are rare but not altogether gone, as we noticed in chapter 2:27 where a man of God suddenly appears to Eli. But visions are rare - the people were starved of God’s word.
Why were the people starved of God’s word? The opening scenes of Samuel suggest that Israel’s corrupt leadership was the main reason – with the festering rebellion of the people simmering in the background. The absence of the word of God was a sign of the judgment of God. The light of the Word withdrawn and the handing over of people to their own desires. God’s judgment is often like that – to give people what they want. To confirm their hardness of their hearts. Paul makes a similar point in Rom 1 where God gives people over to the desires of their hearts as was the case with Hophni and Phinehas. The last words Eli’s sons hear are words of judgment from an unexpected prophet. Then in 4:17 the Philistines attack and Hophni and Phinehas are killed. To our peril we ignore the words of God and live as we see fit.
a broken silence (2-10)
The good news of 1 Sam 3 is that God is breaking his silence – a new era is beginning for God’s people. Samuel is growing in stature and favour before the Lord. One day in the tabernacle Samuel hears the voice of his Lord. The theme of verses 2-10 is summed up in verse 4 which says that ‘the Lord called Samuel’. The verb ‘call’ occurs eleven times in this section. God calling Samuel to be his prophet. At first, Samuel mistakes the voice of the Lord for Eli. This he does three times – the reason why is explained in verse 7, ‘Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him’. Samuel hadn’t any direct experience of God, he wasn’t used to receiving God’s word and it confused him. It needed Eli to sought things out. Under Eli’s gentle correction, at last Samuel recognizes God’s voice and he answers in verse 10, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening’.
The narrator isn’t saying that Samuel’s experience ought to be our experience. That we as Christians ought to expect to audibly hear the voice of God at bed time or any other time. God can guide any way he chooses, but he hasn’t promised to guide this way and Samuel’s experience is descriptive rather than prescriptive. Verses 2 to 10 describes Samuel’s experience as part of a larger story. It isn’t prescribing the way God normally speaks to his people.
At first glance we stand at a distance us from the story. We are not Samuel – tabernacles are long gone – and its more likely Indonesia will attack Australia rather than the Philistines. But if we look at the story from the angle of God’s character there is something to learn. In chapter 2 we noticed God as judge, reacting to the sins of Israel’s leadership. We saw God acting swiftly and decisively to curtail Eli and his family whose leaching sin was perverting a nation. In chapter 3 the story zooms in on Samuel and God is kind and gentle toward his servant. There is no hurry for Samuel to recognize the voice of his Lord – there is time for Samuel to catch on. God doesn’t punish Samuel for getting it wrong, rather he nurtures him with the tenderness of a loving Father.
Dale Ralph Davis points out that God ‘is not holding a stopwatch over Samuel, threatening to have done with him if he does not wise up. No, Yahweh moderates his instruction to our condition’. Our Heavenly Father is a patient Father. He is patient with those who love him and walk with him. Do you feel a little slow to understand his Word? Do you struggle with sin and do you feel yourself an unworthy son or daughter? Remember, your God is patient and loving. He does not mind repeating himself – he will nurture you – stand by you – give you time to think things through. God knows the feebleness of our minds and our natural limitations. He promises that his Holy Spirit will lead us into truth if we shall only persistent in walking in his ways. Indeed, if we are to be like Samuel, surely it must be the imitation of his words, ‘Lord, your servant is listening’.
Samuel’s first prophecy (11-18)
In verses 11-18, Samuel, still on his prophetic ‘L’ plates, received words about the house of Eli which confirm the earlier words in chapter 2. Eli’s house will be judged forever, verse 13, ‘For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them’. Understandably, Samuel is a little reluctant to tell Eli, but in verses 17 and 18 Eli extracts the information from him.
Samuel’s prophetic call highlights the burden, pressure, conflict and pain of the word of God. As soon as Samuel becomes a prophet he realises how tough speaking God’s words can be. But Samuel is faithful, and when speaking to Eli he does not change down the message. Sometimes preachers go into the pulpit knowing their words will rub people the wrong way. I feel this from time to time. When I read these words by Dale Ralph Davis I took much comfort, ‘If a preacher never places you under the criticism of God’s word, never tells you your sin but only smothers you with comfort, you must wonder if he is a phony’. Someone else has said that a preacher must ‘afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted’.
Samuel, preachers and you. As you share the gospel, you are sharing God’s words with others. All of us must remain faithful to the words of life given to us – knowing that sometimes the gospel will offend, but to others those same words are the fragrance of salvation. Samuel teaches us to speak with boldness, trusting that God will use our faithfulness to his glory.
The Lord’s mercy to his people (19-4:1a)
Remember that chapter 3 started with the word of the Lord being rare and it ends with a prophet who regularly brings the word of God. The Lord is merciful to his people. Look at verse 19, ‘The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word. And Samuel’s word came to all Israel’.
It is a sign of God’s grace when God’s word has free course among God’s people. We experience God’s grace when the word of God lies at the centre of this church – not committees, not fund-raising or social activities – all of these have their place but not at the centre of church life. In our home groups the word of God must be central – at playgroup and youth group - the Bible must be taught with care but without fear or favour. The word of God must be spoken – but it must also be heard. The word of God is rare when people don’t listen to the scriptures. Jesus says in Mark 4 that even our ability to hear and live out God’s word is a divine gift, ‘he who has ears to hear let him hear’.
And so we ought to examine ourselves: is the word of God rare in my life? If it is, then this is totally unsatisfactory and you need to do something about this situation – not tomorrow but now and right now. Starvation not only comes from absence of food but from lack of appetite. All of us must have an appetite for the word of God for this is what nourishes our Christian lives. ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceed from the mouth God’. Do not allow the word of God to be rare in your life. Paul says in Col 3:16, ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God’. When God speaks his people listen.
Jesus - breaking the silence (Jn 5:24-27; Heb 2:1)
In the early days of the New Testament there no words of prophecy. The word of God was rare. The Jews often referred to the bat qol - that small inner voice that speaks within. Then John the Baptist appears on the scene. Turn with me to John 1:19, ‘Now this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Christ.” They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”’
John is not God’s prophet. He is in the mould of Old Testament prophets looking forward to the Messiah – God’s king who will speak to in these last days. And one day the prophetic silence was broken with the coming of THE prophet – the Lord Jesus. The coming of Jesus marks a new era in the history of salvation. God himself dwelling amongst his people – a prophet far greater than Samuel - the one who spoke to Samuel living amongst us. His words are life. Look at John 5:24, ‘“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man’.
The words that Jesus speaks are words of life. Listen to God’s prophet – for he is not only our Prophet, he is our Priest and he is our King. To ignore the words of Jesus is to ignore life itself. Hophni and Phinehas ignored God’s word and they perished. The writer to the Hebrews warns us, ‘We must pay careful attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away’ (Heb 2:1). Listen to Jesus – his words are precious for they are life itself. We have the repository of God’s words freely available to us, read these words and treasure these words for they are life itself. Eli heard Samuel’s words and accepted them, ‘He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes’ (1 Sam 3:18). He is the Lord, and he laid down his life for us so that we can cross over from death to life. He is the Lord who is risen and those who trust in him will cross over from death to life.
conclusion
In these last days God speaks to us through his Son. The silence is broken. The word of God is available and it urges us to trust in the promises of God. And we say to the Lord, ‘speak, for your servant is listening’.
